Expert for Tamir Rice's family releases new report that says shooting was unreasonable

Updated December 6, 2015 at 6:47 AM;Posted December 5, 2015 at 11:40 AM

Subodh Kinetics report.jpg

A kinetics expert says Tamir Rice had his hands in his pockets when he was shot and was not reaching for his toy gun, flatly contradicting what experts hired by the prosecutor's office have found. The new report comes from attorneys representing the Rice family in a civil lawsuit.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Tamir Rice had his hands in his jacket pockets and never reached for the airsoft pellet gun that was tucked in his waistband when a Cleveland police officer fatally shot him, according to a report released late Friday from an expert in biomechanics and kinetics.

The new report also concluded that the 12-year-old boy's toy gun was not visible to officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, and that Loehmann opened fire less than one second after exiting the patrol car.

Jesse L. Wobrock, an expert hired by attorneys representing the Rice family in a wrongful death lawsuit against the officers and the city of Cleveland, wrote that Tamir had no time to remove his hands from his pockets or hear a warning from police before he was shot.

The case has drawn international interest and become a centerpiece of the Black Lives Matters movement against police use of force that has swept the nation. A Cuyahoga County grand jury is currently hearing testimony as it prepares to decide if Loehmann and/or Garmback should face criminal charges related to Tamir's death.

The officers went to Cudell Recreation Center on Nov. 22, 2014, after they received a report of a "guy with a pistol." At the time of the shooting, Tamir had an airsoft pellet gun tucked into his waistband.

Wobrock concluded Tamir did not have enough time to react to any verbal commands before Loehmann shot him.

"The scientific analysis and timing involved do not support any claim that there was a meaningful exchange between officer Loehmann and Tamir Rice, before [Tamir] was shot," Wobrock said.

Wobrock's report challenges analysis offered by the prosecutor's office when the enhanced video was released. The enhanced video was released as a series of stills, with notes on several frames. One still included a note saying Tamir moved his right arm toward his waist immediately before the shooting. Tamir was actually putting his hands in his pockets, Wobrock said.

Wobrock concluded that Tamir raised his right arm in a "defensive-type position" a split-second before Loehmann opened fire.

"This defensive-type movement causes his jacket to move upward and to the right, which is consistent with the location of the bullet hole in his outer jacket, compared to his abdominal wound," Wobrock said.

The report also concluded that Loehmann shot Tamir less than one second after he exited the police car, not the 1.7 seconds that other experts have found. Loehmann likely drew his gun before he exited the police car because less than one second is "simply not enough time" to draw a gun, aim and fire, Wobrock said.

"Based on the timing of this event, Tamir Rice did not have enough time to perceive and react to any verbal commands, which is exemplified by the fact that his right hand was still in his jacket pocket at the time he was shot," Wobrock said.

The police car's windows were up when the officers arrived at Cudell, so it's unlikely that Tamir heard any verbal commands the officers issued while inside the car, Wobrock said.

Chandra also released supplemental reports by Roger A. Clark, a police procedures consultant, and Jeffrey J. Noble, former deputy police chief of the Irvine Police Department. The experts, who were also hired by attorneys representing the Rice family, maintained their conclusions that the shooting was "objectively unreasonable."

Chandra has denounced three expert reports ordered and released by McGinty that called the shooting "tragic, but reasonable." Chandra has accused of McGinty of disgracing the grand jury process by commissioning biased reports and then releasing them to the public.

McGinty issued a brief statement about the new reports.

"An investigation is the search for the truth," McGinty said in the statement. "We welcome and will review all credible relevant evidence from any source. The citizens on the grand jury will make the decision in all use of deadly force cases."

A Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office spokesman said he was unable to discuss specific aspects of grand jury proceedings.

Clark and Noble attempted to poke holes in the reports released by McGinty's office, arguing they distorted evidence, contradicted one another, made unfounded assumptions and ignored principles of police training.

Noble, in his addendum, questioned whether Loehmann embellished his police experience in the statement the officer read to the grand jury. Loehmann said in his statement that he had worked many homicide, aggravated robbery and active shooter cases.

Noble suggested that Loehmann, who joined the department in August 2014 after a brief and controversial stay on the Independence force, had neither the time or opportunity to develop the body of work the officer claimed.

McGinty has said he will present all expert reports to the grand jurors as evidence for them to decide whether to charge the officers.

Chandra said in a letter to McGinty that Wobrock is available to testify on Wednesday. It remained unclear Saturday if arrangements had been made to have Noble and Clark testify.

Loehmann and Garmback read statements to the grand jury last week, a police union official said this week. The officers made the statements under oath, though they thereafter invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions, the official said.

Attorneys representing the Rice family argued Friday that because Loehmann and Garmback read their statements under oath, they should be called back to the stand for cross-examination.

"There is no question that officers Loehmann and Garmback waived their Fifth Amendment privilege by appearing before the grand jury, taking the oath, and reading their own self-serving statements," the Rice family attorneys wrote in a letter to McGinty.